Moelis Australia to make SA's largest ever retail transaction

In what will be South Australia's largest ever retail transaction Moelis Australia has entered into an agreement to acquire 50 per cent of Westfield Marion.

The agreement will see Moelis, fully capitalised by Singapore exchange listed SPH REIT, acquire a 50 per cent interest in the Marion Shopping Centre for $670 million from Lendlease.

The centre is the 11th largest shopping centre in Australia and the largest in South Australia, with a net lettable area of 136,851 sqm and annual turnover of $846 million.

After completion of the acquisition Moelis' assets under management will be around $4.7 billion.

Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Asset Management at Moelis Chris Monaghan says the deal was a perfect fit for SPH REIT.

"We look long and hard for investments for our clients and Marion Shopping Centre was an ideal fit for SPH REIT," says Monaghan.

"Their criterion centres around best in class and Marion clearly is that."

As reported by the Australian Financial Review the 50 per cent share was previously valued at $737.5 million, meaning Moelis has scored itself an $67 million discount.

The sale follows a similar divestment from Westfield's Australian manager Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) in May. 

Scentre Group announced it would be selling off half its stake in Sydney's Westfield Burwood shopping centre in order to pay down debt and pursue strategic goals.

The deal meant Perth-based Perron Group would become a 50 per cent joint venture partner after paying $575 million for its stake, representing a 4.1 per cent premium to the asset's book value as at 31 December 2018.

Shares in Scentre Group are up 0.39 per cent to $3.88 per share at 11.24am AEDT.

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Business News Australia